What household items can we take to our studio?
Cleaning, hygiene and makeup things –
Scotch Pads – These are great for texture, you can use them in all sorts of shapes, sizes, thicknesses and they are wonderful. One tip I learned from the great Nan Roche is to hold the sandpaper on a sticky pad, this way the sandpaper is held by the soft pad and your hand and fingers get much more comfortable support.
Baby wipes: cleaning and more cleaning! clean your mud, your hands, your floor, your pasta machine, these wipes are very useful.
Floor Wax – Although I don’t use floor wax as a finish on my work, “Future” Floor Wax is a great example of this. Some people like to dip their beads in finishing liquids, or you can use a brush and apply a few coats until you get the effect you want. This material is an alternative to glitter and lacquer.
Toothbrush – Another tool for texturing (and cleaning too!)
Makeup Brushes – I have a store nearby that sells cheap makeup brushes that are nice and smooth, suitable for applying paint, lacquer, glitter, or resin.
Powders: These are great as metallic/matte effects on stamped clay, I used to be a makeup artist and have tons of these powders, they are perfect for clay and can be a wonderful substitute for mica powders (see photo).
Lotion – A good material we can use with very dry clay, just add a small amount of lotion to your dry clay and keep conditioning it, it helps soften the material.
Manicure Sponges: Manicure sponges have 2 main purposes: the first is medium-coarse sanding and the second is texturing.
Manicure stickers: nail stickers are a great decoration for cured polymer clay designs: flowers, butterflies, dots, etc. Do not season them, the plastic in them will not survive the heat of the oven. Same with plastic rhinestones.
Stylus – This tool is amazing, it makes these nice dots on your clay, whether it’s cured or raw, I love to “stipple” my clay, you can also use acrylic paints to add dots after curing.
Vaseline or other Vaseline: Same use as lotion.
Talc: very useful mold release agent, brush your stamps, texture sheets to make demolding easier. you can also use cornflower for the same purpose. Be careful not to inhale talc, it is unhealthy.
dental clinic –
Syringe – While this tool isn’t something you want to encounter in real life, it’s great for measuring material, especially when working with resin, which needs to be weighed carefully. I know some people use them as extruders, but I haven’t tried it 🙂
Dental Sculpting Tools: These tools are perfect for sculpting and miniature making. If you like those themes, it’s a must.
Molding materials: I haven’t tried these either, but I heard from one of my students, who is a dentist, that dental mold works great for polymer clay, too.
Carpentry, Construction
Sandpaper – Sandpaper in all grits is welcome in our studio, coarse? use it for texture. good? Use it to sand. They’re fun to wear, inexpensive, and make a beautiful finish on back pieces.
Lathe Machines – Never used them, but saw the magic Grant Difendaffer did with them.
Toolboxes: work tools for your DH? no, they can be a great storage box for us! I have tons of boxes from the hardware store to store my canes, tools, cutters, etc.!
Ceramic Tiles: Take all the scraps from your home renovation (or ask the neighbor for some tiles) and use them as a work surface. They clean up easily and can be cured in the oven.
Mesh – This is one of my favourites! Metal Mail can be cured so it can be used as an addition to our clay designs, as armor, and many other uses.
Screws, nails, etc., steam punk style? These ovenproof tools and materials are a cool decoration for your work. They are also useful for texturing, drilling, and just for fun.
Pliers – It was supposed to be the other way around, but I always find MY pliers in my DH toolbox! These tools are a must have for wire work, jewelry making, and any studio needs a pair of them.
Glue Gun – Mainly used as a helper to older polymer clay extruders (scroll down this page). If you don’t have the green Makin’s extruder, you can use the silicone extruder to help.
Enjoy!
iris mishley